Apple, Mayo partner on iOS health monitor

When Apple on Monday revealed plans to turn its iOS devices into health-information dashboards, it dropped a big health-industry name: Mayo Clinic.

The Rochester, Minn.-based medical system will be among the first to tap into health-related features that are a part of Apple's upcoming iOS 8 operating system for the iPhone and iPad.

Users will have an Apple app called Health that will collect health data from a variety of sources, including fitness- and health-monitoring apps and devices. These include wearable fitness gizmos such as the Fitbit, along with mobile hardware that monitors heart activity, blood oxygen saturation and other variables.

Mayo Clinic has big plans for all of this health data.

With users' consent, the information will be fed to the Mayo and analyzed so the clinic can offer better medical advice. Such a service would be made available to Mayo patients, as well as to those who use the clinic's public health-information databases.

For Mayo's patients, the Apple technology has major implications, said John Wald, the clinic's medical director for public affairs. With access to more and better information about patients at their fingertips, doctors might be able to shorten or eliminate costly hospitalizations.

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"We'll be able to provide high-quality care based on data patients provide themselves," Wald said. "This is an incredibly exciting opportunity."

Apple on Monday also announced a tool called HealthKit that will let developers of health apps and devices funnel data into the Health app. Nike, along with Mayo, is planning to make heavy use of HealthKit.

Mayo Clinic and Nike have a long history of working closely with Apple. Mayo Clinic's medical workers, for instance, have long relied on iOS hardware in their work, and the clinic is among iOS-dependent companies profiled on the Apple site. The Mayo Clinic is a major developer of consumer and internal apps for iOS.

Working with Apple is hugely important, Wald said, because the tech company has "a better understanding of the consumer relationship."